New Regulatory Mechanism of Neurogenesis Discovered

Ghent, Belgium (Scicasts) — A team of researchers at VIB/KU Leuven has discovered a previously unknown mechanism that is highly conserved between species and which regulates neurogenesis through precise temporal control of the activity of a family of proteins essential for brain development: the proneural proteins. This mechanism, a simple reversible chemical modification, is critical for the production of a sufficient number of neurons, their differentiation and the development of the nervous system. Our nervous system is made up of an astonishing diversity of neurons. And yet only a very small number of proteins are needed to generate and determine the identity of these billions of neurons. An even smaller number of proteins, called proneural proteins, initiate and regulate brain development and neurogenesis (i.e. the manufacture of functional neurons from…